How would you feel if you discovered you had over $20,000 ($US11,000) in unpaid parking fines? That's precisely what happened to Jaime Rodriguez, a schoolteacher in Chicago. The only problem? He couldn't remember racking up the fines! A little investigation revealed it was his 26 year old son, also named Jaimie, who had racked up the fines. So what did Jamie Rodriguez Snr do? He paid the fines, all 109 of them! When asked about it he said "My stupid kids. They get the tickets and throw them away, and they're thinking they are going to go away."
Well, from Jamie Rodriguez Jnr's perspective that is precisely what happened - the fines simply went away! This
is a good example of poor boundary setting by Jamie Rodriguez Snr. When we take on responsibility for someone else's responsibility the other person is not allowed to feel the consequences of their actions and so will never learn to change their behaviour.
Topics: parenting, boundaries, responsibilities
Source: Reported in "This is True" newsletter Jan 12, 2003, citing the Chicago Sun-Times